Card Number 206, Miss Leonard, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-2) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes
1880s
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 5/8 × 1 7/16 in. (6.6 × 3.7 cm)
Classification
Photographs|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, Gift of Jefferson R. Burdick
Accession Number
63.350.207.145.2.206
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the bustling world of late 19th-century America, tobacco companies like W. Duke, Sons & Co. revolutionized marketing with collectible trading cards tucked into cigarette packs. This diminutive albumen photograph, *Card Number 206, Miss Leonard*, from the Actors and Actresses series (145-2) promoting Cross Cut Cigarettes, the era's fascination with theater stars. Issued in the 1880s, it features a poised portrait of actress Miss Leonard, her image rendered in exquisite detail on a tiny sheet measuring just 2 5/8 × 1 7/16 inches—perfect for album collectors or pocket-sized admiration. Albume...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co. · 1870–1920
**W. Duke, Sons & Co.: Pioneers of Chromolithographic Trade Card Art** W. Duke, Sons & Co., an American tobacco manufacturer, emerged from the entrepreneurial vision of Washington Duke (1820–1905) and his sons in Durham, North Carolina. After the Civil War, Washington abandoned farming in 1874 to join his eldest son, Brodie L. Duke, in the burgeoning tobacco trade, establishing a factory that for...